Writing in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Martin Feldstein reads the 2nd quarter GDP figures and declares the stimulus a flop:

Congress enacted the tax rebate program earlier this year because it perceived a growing risk of recession. In addition, it feared monetary policy alone would not be effective because of the dysfunctional credit markets. As American taxpayers know, most of the rebate checks have now been mailed and cashed.

Yesterday afternoon, the Senate cleared the way to pass a $14.9 b. housing stimulus bill, H.R.3221, next Tuesday, that won't stimulate housing much.  They did that by killling Senator Durbin's (D-IL) amendment to give bankruptcy judges the power to rewrite first mortgages.  That was a deal-breaker for the mortgage lending industry.  It was also the only thing that might have helped those facing foreclosure, albeit as the cost of raising future mortgage interest rates for the increased risk that future mortgages might be written down.